Detroit Tigers Links: Justin Verlander on pace to be Tigers' all-time strikeout king

AP PhotoJustin Verlander recorded his 1,000th strikeout in less than six full seasons, but while he's on pace to catch Mickey Lolich, it's easier written than done.

• A changeup in the dirt — not his trademark pitch — to A.J. Pierzynski was swung on and missed for strike three over the weekend. This was Justin Verlander's 1000th strikeout. You may have already known this.

But Bless You Boys' Mike Rogers went all spreadsheety on this milestone. Not only is Verlander the 15th pitcher in Tigers history to achieve this, but of all the previous pitchers, JV has the highest strikeout rate, fanning over 21 percent of the opposition.

He still has to double-and-a-half his total to catch Mickey Lolich, who had 2,679 in his career (good for 18th all time in MLB history, and most by any player not in the Hall of Fame that has been on the ballot). Not even for a great pitcher like Verlander is this a sure thing; Lolich had about 40 starts a year and played in Detroit for 13 seasons. Verlander is breaking into his sixth full season but has less than one-third of Lolich's career innings.

Even if he can't catch Lolich, Verlander does have a great chance to crack the Tigers' top-ten list; 80 more and he passes Bill Donovan for tenth all time. [BYB]

• The Wichita Wingnuts is the goofiest collection of former Detroit Tigers I've ever seen. Today the independent league baseball team just signed former Tigers outfielder Brent Clevlen, who will be managed by former Tigers infielder Kevin Hooper and owned by former Tigers pitcher Nate Robertson. Dane Sardinha belongs on this team somewhere. [KSN]

• I'm sort of in line with Terry Foster's thinking that first baseman Miguel Cabrera, for as good he is, doesn't get the respect he deserves from a baseball perspective. Subtract the personal flaws, and do people in the area realize what a rare talent they have on their team? [Detroit News]

• The signs of catcher Alex Avila getting on track have been promising, but not so fast, writes John Parent. Some of the newer-age stats such as BABIP and BB%, which can gauge a batter's luck and extrapolate a trend, have Avila regressing back to the struggling hitter he was last year. [Motor City Bengals]

• Twenty-five years ago today, Craig Lefferts of the San Diego Padres hit a walkoff home run against the San Francisco Giants. The notability of this? Lefferts was a relief pitcher. It was the last time a pitcher ever hit a walkoff homer, and to paraphrase Dante from the movie "Clerks," he wasn't even supposed to pitch on that night, because he had a high temperature. I would like Jim Leyland to read this story, in the hopes that he somehow makes a double-switch that causes Ryan Perry to bat in the bottom of the ninth. [ESPN SweetSpot]